Costa Concordia Salvage Update: Crews Install Largest of Five Subsea Support Platforms [PHOTOS]

The salvage operation to remove the Costa Concordia cruise ship from the shores of Giglio hit a milestone today when crews positioned the largest of five subsea support platforms onto the seabed next to the wreck.

The platform, known as Platform No. 1, will be secured to the granite seabed in order to provide support when uprighting the ship.

Platform no. 1 was built at the Rosetti shipyard in Marina di Ravenna and weighs about 1,000 tonnes. It measures 40m by 33m, is 22m tall and is supported by 5 big pillars almost 2m in diameter.

The operation was carried out using the dynamically positioned heavy lift ship Svenja, which is owned and operated by SAL Heavy Lift.

At about 8:30 a.m., the Svenja lifted the structure from a barge and positioned it into place below the Costa Concordia using its two large cranes.

So far, three smaller platforms have been installed below the wreck near the ship’s stern.

Photo: Parbuckling ProjectPhoto: Island of Giglio FacebookPhoto: Parbuckling ProjectPhoto: Parbuckling ProjectOnce installed, cranes will be fixed to the subsea platform and will pull the ship upright, helped by watertight caissons which will be filled with water. Once upright, more caissons will be installed to the ships starboard side and then emptied to re-float the ship. Image: Titan/Micoperi